Early Christian Art

Though early Christian art has been put into its own category, the influence of previous periods of art is observable within the various works. Artists adapted the styles and techniques of the older civilizations that they were familiar with to the ideologies that surrounded the new religion. This observation further proves that nothing can be considered completely original, and highlights the importance of allowing oneself to be inspired by those that came before the current time period. The old and new go hand in hand. Religion is one of the most common themes and inspirations found when studying the history of art, and these depictions adapt with the progression of time. When Christianity was in its infancy, believers had to look to the

In the Dura-Europos synagogue, the artist depicted their interpretation of various scenes found within the Old and New Testaments of the Bible (Gardner 290). The simple fact that the paintings were placed on walls and depict religious subjects reminds the viewer of the tomb paintings the Ancient Egyptians are acclaimed for. The main difference between the two pieces is that Egyptian tomb paintings commemorate the dead and their families, while the synagogue paintings commemorate and provide a visual of significant Christian stories. On the other hand, both pieces are religious in nature. The figures and scenes are stylized, much like in the Nebamun tomb’s Fowling Scene (Gardner 72). Hierarchical scale and other distinguishing factors are used in both pieces to show the importance of particular leaders or deities, such as the depictions of Samuel and David (Gardner 291). Additionally, the fact that ancient Christians even depicted scenes from the Bible was shocking, since the worship of idols and representations of religious figures is looked down upon in this religion (Gardner 290). In fact, one of the first depictions of Christ is known for being found at Dura-Europos (Young). As stated, the early Christians were greatly influenced by the methods earlier Greeks and Romans used to worship their gods and

Depicting Christ and other Biblical figures in paintings is one thing, but the creation of sculpture takes the worship of an idol to the next level. If one did not know the subject of the statuette, they might think it came from the era of Ancient Greek sculpture. The stance of the form is reminiscent of the Hellenistic style along with the treatment of the draped, flowing fabric. The piece it most resembles is the Old Market Woman, because when placed side by side the positioning of the young Christ and the Woman are somewhat similar (Gardner 152). On the other hand, the face of the statuette is almost archaic in nature, while highlighting the youthful radiance of Christ. The young Christ is positioned in and dressed in the image of regal, well-educated officials and leaders, which speaks measures of his power and influence even in his youth (Gardner